While organizing the cellar the other day, I came across a bottle of "Little Black Dress" Cab Sauv. I'm not sure who bought this or who decided to put it in a rack. I don't have the heart to serve this to anybody. Perhaps I'll try it myself once it has some bottle age...

No - although during the move we did just throw out a 2002 Glen Ellen Chardonnay that was given to us by someone and has been sitting not in any of our cellars in the house which is generally 80 degrees for the 50% of time when we are in Key West. It was a lovely shade of gold/orange.

I have a magnum of Yellow Tail chardonnay, one or two bottles of Kendall Jackson reds, and a bottle or two of Trapiche.

People bring them over as gifts. I never have an issue with it, but it does make me wonder if they're kidding when they preface the gift-giving act with "I know you're into wine, so I got this for you".

oh, and someone in my office approached me the other day with a bottle of wine. "hi, i know you like wine, and I don't really drink wine. I've had this for a while, it was a gift a few years ago. It's been in my kitchen stored like this (as she acts out laying the bottle horizontally), not like this (as she acts out laying the bottle vertically). I hope it's good!

It's a 1998 Casa Lapostelle Rapel Valley Merlot. Not sure what to make of that.

One of my wife's art pieces was picked up by Hillebrand vineyards and they put it on a rose wine they produce. (if you want to call it that)It's a tough thing because the wine is so freaking bad. I keep it buried in the basement with one bottle on display but my mother-in-law proudly goes around giving it to people without telling them how crap the wine is.

I'm fortunate to have reached a point where I rarely am given lousy wines. Occasionally a vendor will give me a bottle that I wouldn't even cook with, but people who know me either just don't give me wine at all, or give me thoughtfully selected bottles regardless of price.

Cheap really doesn't have anything to do with whether I drink or serve a wine, but lousy does.

So.... lousy wines experience one of two possible fates in my home. Some are kept for cooking, although I usually like to pick my cooking wines unless I find myself in need of a spash on short notice. The rest are gifted to my daughters for when they're hosting larger social events where the quality of the wine isn't an issue. These re-gifts come with the proviso that they don't tell their wine loving friends that they came from me. I do have a minor reputation to uphold with these folk ....

If you do a blind lineup with friends, it's fun to slip one of these in. Just make sure they're good enough friends to forgive you, and that you bring something really good as your actual contribution.

In a similar situation last year, a few of us decided to have some fun with a friend prepping for one of her somm tests. We consulted with a friend on the retail side of things who pointed us to Chateau Bordeaux, I believe it was, which he said had high bottle variation but was consistently crap.

So in a lineup of 15-20 bottles, we slipped four of these in as the first bottles. Sure enough they all sucked and all tasted completely different. After about 15 minutes of contemplation, I think she pegged one as a Cab, one as a Syrah, one as flawed and I forget the other. It was good for a laugh, and a better use for the wine than ruining a good dish by cooking with it.

I have a bottle of "Graceland Estate" California cab with the picture of Elvis on the label. I gotta believe this bottle has more value unopened than opened. I just haven't quite found the right, uh, victim, to, uhh, "gift" it to.

Originally posted by Rob_Sutherland:I have some Jacob's Creek and Rosemont Shiraz that I keep around for when my mother in law wants another glass and everyone else is done for the night.

You're very kind Rob. I have bottles lying around for my Mother in Law, but they don't contain wine.....

The thing is she really likes them! Rosemont Shiraz is her go-to wine (despite my best efforts), so she thinks I'm being really nice to her (which, if she likes it, I guess I am even though I'm gagging inside).

I have a bottle of Rex Goliath that someone "gifted" me. I also happened to have received one of those wooden contraptions that locks a bottle of wine until you figure out the puzzle. I locked the bottle in so that I wouldn't have to drink it then. Unfortunately, no one has since felt the urge to figure it out, so there it stands.

Originally posted by CJO:I have a bottle of Rex Goliath that someone "gifted" me. I also happened to have received one of those wooden contraptions that locks a bottle of wine until you figure out the puzzle. I locked the bottle in so that I wouldn't have to drink it then. Unfortunately, no one has since felt the urge to figure it out, so there it stands.

Originally posted by RedLoverJim: We consulted with a friend on the retail side of things who pointed us to Chateau Bordeaux, I believe it was, which he said had high bottle variation but was consistently crap.

How do you find out something that is consistently crap has high bottle variation?

"Wine, one sip of this will bathe the drooping spirits in delight beyond the bliss of dreams. Be wise and taste."- Milton